I’m not into beating a dead horse, but plenty of South Florida’s heartache over the past months stems from the wink we got from the prom queen.

Are the Dolphins still alive?

One of the most pressing questions that lingered in the aftermath of Miami’s pursuit of Peyton Manning deals with how in a span of 72 hours the Miami Dolphins went from being the front runner for the future Hall of Famer, to the one team that Manning didn’t even visit at their facility?

Never mind the fact the Denver Broncos, which eventually landed Manning, had four times the amount of cap space as the Dolphins.

Ignore the South Florida condo the Manning family SHARES, which Peyton Manning used as his offseason home while training with Reggie Wayne and Pierre Garcon this offseason.

Overlook the fact Manning personally told certain Dolphins figures he’d love to play for the team before being released by the Colts.

How did the Dolphins miscalculate Manning’s interest level so badly?

“I felt like a lot of people,” owner Steve Ross said at the NFL’s owners meeting last week.

I’m GUESSING Ross felt played, just like he did with Jeff Fisher?

“I met with his father earlier in December. We spoke about it. He loves South Florida,” Ross said. “I think it came down to he didn’t want be placed where he didn’t know anybody in our house. He wanted to be comfortable.

“He’d been at two teams his whole life and I think he judged it based on the fact where he would feel most comfortable, where he had familiar faces around him because that’s what he was used to,” said Ross, who received a letter from Manning explaining his decision-making process.

My hope is Manning explained to Ross that his camp kept the Dolphins in the conversation purposely to drive up the asking price, which turned into $96 million over five-years.

Remember that talk about an incentive based contract? Whatever happened to that?

Everyone in the NFL knows Ross would have paid and done WHATEVER to land Manning, and having a bidder like him at the table is always nice. Jim Harbaugh and Fisher’s bank account will testify to that.

“You know, we gave it a big effort. He was the only franchise quarterback out there that we saw and what he could do for that team,” Ross said. “Look it. I went after him. If I didn’t go after him I wouldn’t be interested in really winning. I want to win today not tomorrow. It didn’t happen.”

Ross openly admits he’d do it all over again, and again, and again pursuing what he wants.

Comments (158 Comments)

What did we learn? We can ask that question in regards to John Harbaugh, Jeff Fisher and Peyton Manning. There is something about our organization that turns off perspectie FAs and HCs. Who is our GM again? Alright, I am sure I will take heat on that but still not an Ireland fan. Lets see how he does with the draft.

Manning is what 1-3 years away from retirement? Why would he want to learn a new style of offense? Think about it! That is why I knew we had no shot! Now had Tony still been here Miami may have had a better shot IMO. But I did not want either anyway…it was for the best.

Ross did his best, Manning could’ve had a change of heart, ultimately i don’t the cap mattered since broncos weren’t big spenders on anyone outside of Peyton…didn’t land Soliai, didn’t land Tolbert or any big named wr…no Mario…so to me it was strictly based on personnel, and if thats the case then fine, but he played miami, everyone from reporters to ownership felt his interest was real, until it wasn’t

“He’d been at two teams his whole life and I think he judged it based on the fact where he would feel most comfortable, where he had familiar faces around him because that’s what he was used to,” said Ross

???????????two teams???????????? did i miss the early part of mannings career where it played for another team?

Beating a dead horse with information we heard weeks ago is exactly what you are doing. I’m guessing you must have a quota for the SS because there is zero reason to write this article otherwise. You always say to move on and love the one you are with, well take your own advice Omar. Amateur hour.

on a complete non football question. what did you think of the marlins grand opening ceremonies last night. even some of the tampa sports talk show host are saying the Ali thing was in poor judgement. i admit i didnt see it i have no opinion about it, just curious if you have one

He can not take it. The emperor shall not stand for ANYONE saying he’s naked!

I don’t care. I’ve never been disrespectful to Omar, and I was one of his earliest twitter followers. But as that number got bigger so did his ego. He now believes it ok to completely IGNORE his critics, even the those with legit arguments to make, rather then just take them with a grain of salt.

You act and talk all holier then thou Omar, but in the end, your work is going to suffer if you can’t accept, and grow from, legitimate criticism. You should be thanking your critics for making you better rather then head tripping on your power to click the mouse button and take somebody else’s voice away.

Go ahead and ban me if you must. In doing so you’ll prove you don’t want quality over quantity, you want yes men.

I’m still not sure that Peyton will be what he once was, if even close. IMHO, I think it may be a blessing in disguise that we didn’t land him… just as we didn’t land Jeff Fisher and get saddled with Greg Williams as our DC… and we ended up with Joe Philbin.

Funny how things turn out in the end… “life is like a box of chocolates…”

Maybe so on the FAs but we have not landed any significant FAS. It seems to be a perception out there about us. May not be accurate but sometimes perception becomes reality. Just look at the Ryan Clark tweets.

You know I both respect you and value your contributions to any conversation…

Yet I am extremely surprised to see you so concerned about what “Ryan Clark” or his likes have to “Tweet” about…

As a person who witnesses legal maneuvering, I am certain you understand that people do EVERYTHING based on motivation or agenda. The very fact that Ryan Clark would take time to address what is occurring ON ANOTHER TEAM other then the one he works for, and the fact that Miami did not meat his salary demands, (concern certainly coming from Clark’s Breathing conditions)… gives clear and undeniable evidence of his motivation AND agenda.

You used a very telling word a post or two back…. and I hope that you, being someone with a huge amount of wisdom to offer, remember where the word originates and what it creates….. PERSPECTIVE……. Perspective is what one person sees as a man going crazy and needing locked up for jumping around, stripping off his cloths and screaming bloody murder…. and another person sees as a man who just saw his team win the Superbowl…

Perspective is what media heads world wide prey upon and what people shuffling their agenda use as lube…..

I beg for you to FINALLY set aside whatever anger or disappointment this season that has yet to even be played has brought, and understand you MAY just be seeing a different way to do things… Not a wrong way like we have been doing for 15 years since Shula left… a different way… Becaus4e I damned well hope we are…..

lol, i gathered that is what ross means i was just being sarcastic cause one doesn’t usually count someones college team as a team they played for in a professional discussion, well unless one played for USC

i dont have a big issue with not signing big name FA’s. i would be willing to bet most of the big name FA’s that sign big time contracts dont contribute their money’s worth to their new team (haynesworth). it is the second tier FA’s that are more important.

I started the blog when I heard the SS was going to pay to read service this past Monday. Tuesday morning I had a blog running. Tuesday afternoon a lot of you posters were on. I emailed Walker and asked if he wanted assistance and about my intentions. i asked if he wanted to assist and he has said he wanted to, but, had difficulty trying to login. Actually I have invited him to be an Editor/Moderator.

The site was designed to be a place all could come and discuss everything dolphins and then some. It will be there after walkers is running and will be a fallback location if his goes down or needs maintenance.

I have ken, Mike E. and NJ to thank for assisting with moderation to keep out the trolls. i do not know all of you and they know how to rid a “Home” of rats.

Son, you are more than welcome on the the blog. And cussing is allowed as long as it is not vulgar. I have no control over wordpress and I built the site on its free service. If you choose not to comment I understand, but, you will be missed.

Gigi, NJ, Ken and Mike E. are simply trying to get the word out as a place to go should SS actually implement the pay system. You are welcome too and I hope you participate.

All are welcome but the Trolls that impersonate.

I know that Walker and whomever else has assisted has put a lot of effort into his site and it will be wonderful and I hope to get an invite.

Walker has the address and can pass it out to you if he wishes.

Please, take a deep breath and remember who you are really mad at… The SS start this division with a pay system. Even if the paywall turns out to be one big April Fools joke Walker and I’s site will be there for you.

- We won the coin-toss for R1P8
- We got Philbin instead of Fisher/Greg Williams
- We didn’t land Peyton, who I consider to be damaged goods (JMHO)
- We kept our Defense intact + Kevin Coyle to help school our D-Secondary

This is a deep draft and we have a full arsenal (could get even bigger in a trade-down!). We are primed to turn this thing around under the leadership of Joe Philbin.

i appreciate the effort TN is putting in, but i have no interest in going to a blog that can edit my comments. a place that certain editors/moderator have to approve with i have to say first. if i wanted that i would look for irandolphinblogs.com.

i understand wanting to keep trolls out, but that can be accomplished by blocking users and not editing comments. editing comments smells of rats and censorship

i dont have a big issue with not signing big name FA’s. i would be willing to bet most of the big name FA’s that sign big time contracts dont contribute their money’s worth to their new team (haynesworth). it is the second tier FA’s that are more important.
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You maybe right. But I would rather have us percieved as a place where people would like to come play and or coach. It is the perception problem that bothers me more so than the actual FA signings or failures to sign. We are viewed as a dysfunctional organization. At least that is what much of the media prints and talks about.

LA would be a perfect move for Ross. He can rename the team the LA Celebrities. Or, maybe the LA Earthquakes. The LA Drag Queens. The LA Smog. The LA Bloods or The LA Crips. Or, The Gangs of LA (a bit of a twist and probably wouldnt meet Goodell approval) Perhaps The Hollywood Homeboys, or maybe The LA Barrio. The LA Rhinoplasty, The LA Boob Jobs, The LA Actors, The LA Rams .. oops, cant use that one …

I share the optimistic view M13 I really do. There is almost no way to miss this draft, its deep in the areas we need to address. We can go so many different ways to achieve the same thing. No matter the mock its says the same thing:

QB, DE/OLB, WR, DB, OL, TE

you can mock them in any order and there is a quality player available for us. Plus we could always have a stud fall in our laps too, and always get speed.

i appreciate the effort TN is putting in, but i have no interest in going to a blog that can edit my comments. a place that certain editors/moderator have to approve with i have to say first. if i wanted that i would look for irandolphinblogs.com.

i understand wanting to keep trolls out, but that can be accomplished by blocking users and not editing comments. editing comments smells of rats and censorship
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I get what you are saying, but think you are overreacting. After all, you just said that on the blog of the guy who just said

“AND if I feel like banishing anyone from this space I SHALL, so test me.

I’m not in the market for more friends or followers.

Quality over quantity. I been preaching that for years, and I’m serious about it.”

it was changed, that is censorship. no other way of saying it. and again i state, there are other ways of blocking trolls with out monitoring comments. besides what makes you, ken, nj and mike e any more qualified to monitor comments then any other member. the ability to monitor and change or edit comments is wrong. it does not give each member the same rights in blogging. i wont try and argue my point any more, i have made it and it is simple. you can choose to have your right to monitor what others say, i just want give you the chance to ever monitor my opinion.

Ok. i get it. What would you have preferred to have been blocked? Ken was trying to protect us from wordpress shutting down the site. Maybe they would have maybe not. I back my moderators and Son’s was the only one done except for one other as a joke by Mike.

I understand that sometimes we have to use strong words to get a point across and they do not offend me or any other mobsters. ken was looking out for All.

Harbaugh had no intention of leaving Bay area, Fisher wanted to go to St. Louis because of QB, potential rape for 2nd pick(which he accomplished), and huge cap space in 2013. Manning was going to highest bidder all along. Miami was used by all three which happens in business. I am a business owner and have had employees do it to me as well as customers. I live by the nothing ventured nothing gained philosophy. As far as free agents, we have limited cap space and we have hopefully changed our habit of overpaying in free agency and spend more time keeping and DEVELOPING our own draft picks, something I thought Sparano did a poor jof of.

if you paid attention to what i said, i have no problem with the banning of members. i have an issue with censorship and editing of comments. just not my cup of tea. no big deal. believe it or not, i know not how to go to TN’s site. i actually can figure out how not to go there. no harm here.

I have found you to be a fairly reasonable guy in the past. I hope you rethink and join us.

I know you say it is censorship – but it is no different then what you get here. If you type out that word here you are censored. Why? Because that word is against the FCC regulations. The SS chooses to eliminate your comment altogether in its censorship – and on TN’s cite they changed it to “f’n”. The entire comment was kept – just the word was omitted.

The word is deemed inappropriate by the carrier – just as it is by the FCC and the SS. Why get so all hot and bothered? That word is a “censored” word in every context it is used in a public blog.

But, do recognize it is equally censored here on the SS – and even more so as your entire comment is censored – not just the word.

I hope to see you around on the blogs bro. I am not paying to talk about a hobby, and definitely not paying to read people rip each other in their personal lives. We are here to talk about the Dolphins and football…

BTW – I will defend your right to the death not to be censored. I am anti-censorship too — but I realize it has a time and place and if Wordpress says they will shut you down then it is in TN’s best interest to avoid being shut down (just like the FCC telling the SS they can be fined)…

I see relevancy in the topic. It is only the first part to a 2 part topic.
The follow up should be how unfair the media is being to Ross and Ireland this off season.
Fact is all the hoopla is only over Ryan Clark, Sapp, and Porter comments which is bogus.
How about let’s emphasize Tomlinson’s comments then.
Once we did not make Flynn a rich man for 2 starts the media went nuts. We sign Garrard and everyone uneducated freaks out like we think he is the answer. He is the answer for a seasoned quality insurance policy that we needed. We are being tapped the biggest losers in free agency. What? We resigned our own , keeping Soliai on a top 7 defense – a perfect priority. Then we signed depth, never breaking the bank.
The team is in the the approach of building thru the draft and it all makes perfect sense.
Still under the radar and liking it….. a fast start and we are winning 10 games minimum.
The media is wrong about the Miami Dolphins….very wrong.

I sure hope none of us learned any lesson, since we should all know by now that -

1) people lie. routinely.
2) you always need leverage in any negotiation. So Peyton used the Fins, and the Titans, and SF and the Jets, as leverage in negotiations with Denver. So what? That’s normal.
3) Ross wants win, now. We should all know that by now. He’s not just bloviating when he says that. And so he made it public that he wanted Peyton. Can’t fault him for that.

If you’re stil around – I think what we learned is, that the media can just take something and run with it. NFLN, NFL radio, ESPN and others decided the Dolphins were going to be their whipping boys for now, and they all enjoyed it our expense. When you put a tam, or organization under a micrscope, you’re going to find faults, and they had a big ol GIGANTIC MICROSCOPE on everything we “failed” on. Every team missed on players and coaches, but MIA was the focus.

This team nails this draft, and everything will be golden. I truly believe that.

by the way…Tomlison said we were one of if not the best front seven in football. He believed if Manning was about returning to the SB, his best chance was with Miami.
The money is why Manning is in Denver first and foremost.

Ffr, not directed at you. I think the editing thing has been way overblown. I believe Ken did it just as a tip to say still type like we do here. The moderators are Mob members. WordPress can shut the blog down if they feel it has gone over the top. TN has no say in that.

Mike E did it to me as a joke and that was the last time I was edited and I type the same stuff over there as I do here.

Omar, how can us, the fan base be even more desperate than Ross as you said in a reply earlier @ 3:13pm?

IMHO, we the fans have just grown very weary of the product that has been put on the field, especially the QB situation, since Huiezinga’s final years and thru Ross’s whole tenure so far.

The Dolphins have a rich & storied past that we all remember and yearn for again. All’s it takes is good ownership, management, coaching, & personnel, something we haven’t had for several years now. So of course we are grasping & hoping for a star QB, among others, to lead this team. I wouldn’t call that desperate.

I’m willing to bet that you’d be very excited to see a franchise QB lead this team deep into the post season yearly. It would make a reporters job a lot more fun I’m sure.

it was changed, that is censorship. no other way of saying it. and again i state, there are other ways of blocking trolls with out monitoring comments. besides what makes you, ken, nj and mike e any more qualified to monitor comments then any other member. the ability to monitor and change or edit comments is wrong. it does not give each member the same rights in blogging. i wont try and argue my point any more, i have made it and it is simple. you can choose to have your right to monitor what others say, i just want give you the chance to ever monitor my opinion.

good luck to you and your blog.

FFR and SON , nobody is going to monitor your comments and that includes me . i’m just on the lookout for HOME ! Ww just want to keep it clean so wordpress doesn’t shut it down that’s all it is , you’re making way to much out of nothing. If u just want to be on walkers site just say so but cut the BS crap out , ok please !

NJ, this party is almost over, so I feel compelled to say this. I have never, anywhere on the internet, found a dolphins fan so polarizing as you. I learned not to mess with you long ago, and I’ve watched you pick fights with people probably thousands of times. I think you’re a good dude deep down. I don’t think you always mean to come off like you do, and hey, I’m guilty for being argumentative myself.

I’m not trying to pass judgement bro, I’m just saying, I don’t know when I’ll ever have this chance to tell you again, as a friend, to try realizing the avatars and screenames are PEOPLE. Human beings. The posts are their voices. Forgive people their mistakes and overlook their flaws a little more often, and I bet it’ll come back to you in spades.

On the editing thing. I’m unclear about how it all works, but one thing about the SS’s filters is they pass no judgment.

Not that I don’t trust everyone of those guys to objectively monitor my posts, but I’ve butted heads in a fairly heated way with all of them on one occasion or the other. Those moments get emotional, and I’m not keen on the idea of having something be edited/censored by a human entity with emotions involved on the subject. I guess what I’m saying is, I need the rules to be clearer here. If the SS doesn’t like something I typed, I can just retype it in a way I think the filter will except. If a human moderator, whom I might be having a discussion, or even an argument with doesn’t like something I typed, I’m SOL.

I don’t think it’s overblown, it’s topical. We all have to make decisions on how we’ll spend our “mob time” going forward.

BTW, I’m just throwing this out there. Omar is not the sole definer of the mob. The mob is people, and without them, there is no “mob” to godfather over. I fully intend to use the “Mob” moniker at wherever else I feel like posting in the future. If the SS was willing to give up the PEOPLE here, then guess what, they lose the moniker as well.

Just was catching up on this, and I don’t think it matters one bit to anyone if you have the f bomb in a blog post. If it did, Fins Nation would have been shut down a long time ago. Now if it’s your blog and you don’t want it, well so be it, you can make any kind of rule you want for your own place. But to say you can’t do it because of some rule that is out of your control, I’m not buying that one.

i appreciate you saying you wont edit me. i also appreciate you interrupting my feelings on censorship into something it is not.

as i was told once by a marriage counselor stick with being a cpa, you are good at that, you suck at trying to read others minds. i would give you the same advice, stick to being a personal trainer and not trying to read my mind.

i have made my feeling clear without making any disparaging comments about anyone. i would appreciate the same from you

The more I look at this kid Floyd, the more I like him… Has great size, speed, and runs nice crisp routes….
Like a Boldin type WR but faster…
Tough kid…
Just don’t know if his off the field problems will take him off the Phins draft board… He could be better then Blackmen…
I say draft the kid at 8….

i will still be blogging, i will just either be at the PBP or walkers site.

i understand there are limitations and regulations as to what can be said. that has nothing to do with other members monitoring what one says. especially others that are peers.
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BTW – Chris T is paid by the $$ to do exactly that. Oh, and Ben Volin admitted to doing that today on his blog too…

“Ben Volin Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 1:03 pm

Sam,

Just did. The comments by one reader have been unapproved. Please keep the discourse civil and PG-13. Thank you.”

Each cite does the same thing… I know I can’t change your opinion and I don’t want to —- just trying to give you a bit of perspective though…

The Dolphins are expected to host DE/OLB Quentin Groves on a free agent visit.
The 52nd pick in the 2008 draft, Groves hasn’t recorded a sack since his rookie season. The Dolphins are considering a hybrid defense this season, so Groves’ versatility could appeal in a backup role.
Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel

OMAR KELLY was unsuccessful at achieving his childhood dream to become a super hero, so he figured he'd do the next best thing and become a journalist who fights against injustice, and searches for truth. After being bored to death reporting news and covering politics, he switched to sports.
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IZZY GOULD joined the Sun Sentinel in Feb. 2012 as a Senior Sports Reporter on the Miami Dolphins beat. He came to South Florida fresh off covering the University of Alabama football program, including its 2011 national championship team. More